Automatic antenna regulator



seph lhszs. 1,684,235

- J. E. LOVE I Y I AUTOMATIC ANTENNA REGULATOR Filed Dec. 12, 1925 Inventor: oseph E.l -ov His Attorney.

Patented Sept. 11,1928;

UNITED, STATES PATENT JOSEPH E. LOVE, or sonnnnoran new Yoim, assrenon TO GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY, A oonronerzo'n or new YORK.

AUTOMATIC ANTENNA REGULATOR.

Application filed December '12, 1925. Serial No. 75,112. I

My present invention relates to means for regulating the resonant wave length otan antenna system.

In the copending application of lVilliam WV. Brown, Serial No. 78,202, filed December 29, 1925,-there is disclosedan automatic antenna regulator comprising a pair ot electricdischarge devices adapted to control directly the energization of a magnetic amplifier. lVhile the arrangement shown in the copending application, in general provides a very satisfactory form of regulator, I have found it desirable under certain conditions to control the excitation of the magnetic amplifier by means of a vibratory relay. connected between the magnetic amplifier and the electric discharge devices.

In ca ploy a magnetic amplifier to control the inipedance, and therefore the tuning of the antenna circuit; A direct current generator having a separately excited, or a shunt field winding is employed to supply current to the regulating winding. of the magnetic amplifier. Normally'when the antenna circuit and the high frequency electroinotive force supplied to the antenna are in t-une,"the controlling current supplied to the magnetic amplifier will maintain the magnetization of the' amplifier constant. lVhen there is any variation in the impedance of the antenna from 1 normal, however, the cnergization 0t the :liel d winding of the regulating generator will be either increased or decreased, depending on the nature of the; change in the antenna. and thereby increase or de supply. to theregulating winding of the ainplifier. In this manner the magnetization oii the'amplitier is controlled and is increased or decreased. in accordance wi h the change;

in the impedance of the antenna to provide the proper correction in the impedance of the I antenna circuit.

The novel features which I believe to be characteristic of my invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. Myinvention. itselt, however, both as to its organization and method of'operaition will best be understood by reference to the following specificationtaken 111 COI111GC tion with the accompanying drawing in which the figure shows diagrammatically a circuit organization whereby my invention may be carried into effect. Referring to the wing my invention into eitect I em- .OZISG llllG current tion in'the'held exci tation'is obtained by (0111 drawing, 1' have indicatedat 1, a wellknown' type of high frequency inductor alternator having a plurality of stationary armature windings 2 and a rotary field member 3, the latter being driven by a constant speed ma chine 4;. Certain of the armature windings 2 are connected to the primary winding of a transformer 5, the secondary winding 01" which is connected in series relation with an antennaG. Included in circuit with the antenna 6, are a variable impedance 7., by means of which initial adjustment of" the antennaiinpecance may be made and a pair ot'primary transformer windings 8 and 9, which are inductively related to a pair of seconcb ary transformer windings 10vand'11 respect-ively. A saturated core regulator or n'iagnetic amplifier 12 is employed to control the impedance of the antenna circuit. The-regulzttor may be of the type disclosed'in Letters Patent of the United Statesto-James CA1- mor, No. 1,219,215, while the particulanfQrm oi? the. controller which may be'used may be or" the type described in Letters .Patentof the United. States to Ernst F. VVrAlexanderson,"

No.1,328fi97. q I in: the present instance, the saturated core regulator con'rprise's the usual high frequency windingslil, connected through condensers 141: and 15 to the secondary windinglti o't an air core transformer 17, and: a regulating winding 18.. The primary winding 19 of the transformer 17 is connected in series relation with the antenna. 6. The regulatingwinding,

18 oil the magnetic amplifier is supplied. with direct current "from a gmi'erator 20. through an adjustable resistance unit 21. The amount 'ofcurront supplied to winding 18 is 'con-' trolled by varying the sc iarately excitedv field 'WIIMlIU 22 oi: the generatorQO. Variatrolling a plurality of resistorsbone of whir 23, is connected in shunt with the :tield winding 22, while the other 21: is connected inscrieswith field winding 22. 1: 2 i

The resistors 23 and 2s are controlled by a vibratory relay 25 in such a manner that the currentnowing inthe lield winding 22;is-.al-. ternately increased. above a certain amount and deercaseda corresponding amount during equal periods of timegso that the result ant field magnetization. of the generator is maintained substantially constant during stantia ly constant, so that the impedance of v the circuit including winding 16 remains constant, and no variation is produced in the impedance of the antenna circuit that is due to the action of the magnetic amplifier.

In order to control the resistors 23 and 24 so as to automatically provide correction in the antenna circuit for variations of the antenna impedance from normal, I employ a plurality of electric discharge devices which govern the action of a Vibratory relay 2,5;

Relay 25 comprises a bent permanent magnet 26,-carrying at one end a vibratory arm a 27 which is adapted to cooperate with a pair of polarized members 28and 29 of like po-v larity, and a pair of contacts 30 and 31, the latter contactsbeing adapted to control the operation of the resistors. Polarized memher-28 is mounted on a core member-which ties with respect to one another. Winding.

carries a pair of windings, one ofwhich, 32,

37 is. connected in circuit with a second electric discharge device 38. The vibratory arm 27 is connected by a wire 39 to one side of the field winding 22. Contact 30 is connected to a point on resistor 23', and contact 28 is connected to a point on theseries resistor 24." \Vhen arm 27 is in central position current to the field winding 22 will flow through a portion of resistor 24 to give a normal excitation to field winding 22. .l/Vhen arm 27 is in engagement with contact 31 the field winding 22 will be.

connected inshunt with a circuit which will include wire 39, arm 27, contact 31.and a portion of resistor 23, so that the voltage and 7 current supplied by generator 21 to the magnetic amplifier will be reduced below normal.

When arm 27-, on the other hand, is in engagement with contact 30 the greater portion of the series resistor 24 will be shortcircuited and the current through field winding 22 will be increased above normal. The variations in current in winding 22 above and below norma'l, which are produced in this manner, will be adjusted equal.

lVhen cycle current is supplied to coils 32 and 36 of relay 25, arm 27 will vibrate at 60 cycles, the arm remaining in engagement with contact 30 and 31 for equal periods of time and, therefore, controlling the energiza tion of winding 22 in such a way as to alter-' nately increase and decrease the magnetization produced by winding22;

To control operation of the vibratory arm 27 in accordance with variationsin the antenna impedance, I employ apair of electric discharge devices 35 and 38', each comprising the usual anode, cathode and grid. The anodes or plate members of the two discharge devices are connected tothe secondary transformer windings 10 and 11 in sucha' way that the electromotive force supplied to the two anodes will be in phase with each other. The plate circuit of each discharge device is completed" through one of the windings 34 or 37. The grid elements of the-discharge devices are connectedto one of the armaturewindings of the inductor-alternator 1. A resistor 40 and condensers 41 and 42 are connected in circuit with the 'armature winding of the alternator so that the phaseirelation of the electromotive forces supplied to the two grids may be adjusted relatively to one another and relatively to the plate electromotive force as desired. Normally, with the antenna in'tune with the electromotive force of the alternator 1,'the electromotive force supplied to the plate member of each discharge device 35 and 38 may differ in phase from the electromotive force supplied to the associated grid memberby an amount less than and the difierence in phase be tween the plate and grid electromotive forces of the two discharge devices. may be equal. As thus arranged, if the antenna is in tune with the highfrequency electromotive. force of the alternator 1, equal amounts of current will be supplied from the discharge devices 35 and 38 to coils 34 and-37. Energization of coils 34 and 37, however, will not aflect the operation of the vibratory arm 27 as long as the coils 34 and 37 aresupplied with current. for equal periods of time. .Whenjthe im pedance of the antenna varies from normal, the phase relation of the electromotive forces supplied to the-grids and plates of the dis- [charge devices will vary, and as a result the current 'su plied in any one cycle, from one discharge eviee will flow for a longer'period' of time than from the other discharge device? This will cause. one of the relay coils 34.01 37 as the case may be, to be'supplied with current impulses of longer duration than those so plied to the otherrelay, and as a result viliratory arm 27 will lag. for a longer time .at the pole pieces 28 or 29 which is sup-' plied with the greater amount of currenta g If the impedance of the antenna-has, for example,decreased below normal, coil 37 will be energized fora longer period and at a higher value than coil 34. Arm 27 will, therefore, lag longer at polepiece 29 than at 28 thus including a ortion of resistor 23 in shunt to field winding 22v fora longer. pe-' riod of time than in normal operation. The

total current suppliedto fieldwinding 22 and amplifier winding 18in a given period will therefore be reduced from normal, causing an increase in the impedance of the circuitineluding winding 16, and a corresponding in-' crease in the impedance of the antenna circuit which will thereby restore the impedance of the antenna to normal.

A pair of condensers 43 and 44 is associated with the discharge devices 35 and 38 and tend to smooth out the direct current impulses supplied to coils 34 and 37. These condensers also may act as a by-pass for radio frequency currents. While I have shown a cycle circuit in connection with relay 25, obviously any frequency desired may be employed.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is,

1. In combination, an antenna, a saturated core regulator associated with the antenna, said regulator including a regulating winding, a source of direct current connected to said winding, and means controlled by variations in the impedance of the antenna, for varying the current supplied from said source to said regulating Winding.

2. In combination, an antenna, a saturated core regulator associated with the antenna, said regulator including a regulating winding, a source of direct current connected to said winding and means controlled by variations in the impedance of the antenna for varying the current supplied from said source to said regulating winding, said means including an electric discharge device.

3. In combination, an antenna, a saturated core regulator associated with the antenna, said regulator including a regulating winding, a source of direct current connected to said winding, means controlled by variations in the impedance of the antenna for varying the current supplied from said source to said regulating winding, Said means including an electric discharge device, and a relay controlled by said discharge device.

4. In combination, an antenna,a saturated core regulator associated with the antenna, means including a generator for. varying the excitation of the regulator, a field winding associated with the generator, a plurality of resistors connected in circuit with the field winding, and means controlled by variations in the impedance of the antenna for controlling the operation of the resistors.

5. In combination, an antenna, a saturated core regulator associated with the antenna,

means including a generator for varying the excitation of the regulator, a field winding associated with the generator, a plurality of resistors connected in circuit with the field winding and means for controlling the operationof the resistors, said means including an electric discharge device controlled by variations in the impedance of the antenna.

6. In c0mbina-tion,"an antenna, a saturated core regulator associated with the antenna, means including agenerator forvarying the excitation of the regulator, a field winding associated with the generator, a plurality of resistors connected in circuit with the field winding, and meanscontrolled by variations in the impedance of the antenna for controlling the operation of the resistors, said means including an electric discharge device, and a normally vibratory relay controlled by said device.

7. In combination, an antenna, a saturated core regulator associated with the antenna, means including a normally vibratory relay for controlling the excitation of the regulator, and means including an electric discharge clevice for modifying the operation of the relay.

8. In combination, an antenna, a saturated core regulator associated with the antenna, means including a normally vibratory relay for controlling the excitation of the regulator, said relay including a plurality of oppositely related windings, and means including a plurality of discharge devices for controlling the energization of said windings to affect the vibration. of said relay.

, 9. In combination, an antenna, a magnetic amplifier associated with the antenna, a source of current connected to the regulating winding, means including a vibratory relay for controlling the current'suppliedto the regulating winding, said relayhaving a plurality of windings energized from a source of electromotive force having a relatively low frequency, and a plurality of windings controlled by variations in the impedance'of the antenna. 7

10. In combination, an antenna, a magnetic amplifier associated with the antenna, means includinga generator for varying the excitation of the amplifier, a field winding associated with the generator, a plurality of resise tors associated with the field winding, a vibratory relay for governing the operation of said resistors and means controlled by variations in the impedance of the antenna for controlling the operation of the relay, said means including a pluralityof electric discharge de-' vices.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 11th day of December, 1925.

JOSEPH E. LOVE.

.Illll Ilh 

